Family of man killed by stun gun seeks answers

Attorney says Jose Martinez was shot twice with Taser, including once when he was on the ground

June 11, 2010|By Ruth Fuller and Ralph Zahorik, Special to the Tribune

Jose Martinez didn't have much money, so when he sent $5 in a birthday card to his son while he was a student at the University of Illinois, it was something special.

"That might not seem like much, but it meant a lot to me, and he knew it," said Robert Martinez, 26. "It was laundry money for a week."

Jose Martinez, 53, died about five hours after Waukegan police allegedly shot him with a stun gun, prompting a police investigation and drawing sharp criticism from family members. Martinez apparently was shot with the device twice, once when he was already on the ground, the family's lawyer said.

"He can't run," said attorney Robert Long. "This is not a 25-year-old gangbanger. He's in his 50s. How much danger did he really pose to police? ... Did they bother to find out who it really was?"

An autopsy showed Martinez, of Waukegan, died May 30 of "existing heart disease" but that being shot with a stun gun was a "contributing cause," Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said.

The incident comes as debate continues over the safety of such weapons. They remain controversial, and human-rights groups such as Amnesty International have called for a moratorium on their use. The weapons can release 50,000 volts in a single shot.

Proponents, however, say stun guns provide officers with a safer way to maintain control of a potentially dangerous situation.

Police departments across the Chicago area have equipped officers with the weapons. Earlier this year the Chicago Police Department said it had expanded the use of Tasers, adding several hundred and equipping patrol officers for the first time.

John Webster, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin, said the weapons certainly save lives, but that it would be "controversial" to say they are not lethal.

"Taser is a good thing over all," he said. "(But) our studies on pigs show that (it) can cause ventricular fibrillation and death."

In the Martinez incident, police responded to a call from a clerk at a liquor store about a panhandler, who reportedly had been disturbing customers.

Carmen Alamo, the clerk who called police, said she told officers that the man reportedly bothering customers was "Caucasian, slim, with blue eyes, with dirty-brown hair, about 25, around 5-8" and wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Jose Martinez was Hispanic with brown eyes and was heavyset and taller than 6 feet, family members said.

He also was shirtless, Alamo said.

Alamo said that about 12:15 a.m. May 30, she saw two police cars in the parking lot. By then, the panhandler was gone, she said.

The first time she saw Martinez, police had him lying on his stomach in the parking lot after he had been shot with a stun gun, Alamo said.

"They pulled up his arm, like they were going to handcuff, and his arm was limp," she said. "Then they flipped him over and it looked like they were feeling for his pulse. I knew something was really wrong."

Toxicology tests showed that Martinez's blood-alcohol level was .242, about three times the legal threshold, at the time of his death, Deputy Coroner Robert Barrett said. No other drugs were found in his system, he said.

Waukegan police declined to discuss the incident until an investigation into the death by the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force is completed.

Long, the family's lawyer, has asked Waukegan officials to retain any video, 911 recordings or other evidence related to the incident.

In addition to a heart condition, Martinez was due to have reconstructive surgery on both knees, Long said.

Long said he was concerned that police didn't inform Martinez's family about his death until June 2 — three days after his death.

"Here it is, Waukegan, in the heart of the good old U.S.," he said. "You'd think they could figure out who they just Tasered and killed."

Family members said Martinez served in the Marine Corps from 1975 to 1977 and had some problems after he returned home.

They said he worked for the Milwaukee Road railroad for 12 years, laying track until he injured his knees on the job and became disabled.

Martinez, one of nine siblings, was married and lived in Waukegan with his wife, Susan. The couple have three sons: the oldest is a filmmaker in Chicago. The two others are students in Madison, Wis. Martinez's funeral was held Wednesday. A Marine Corps honor guard attended.

A brother, Armando "Marty" Martinez, 58, is a former Waukegan police officer, who retired after he was stabbed while on duty.